On the border between Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony, limited by the Elbe river in the Northeast and the Mulde river in the Southwest, lie the wooded highlands of the Dübener Heide heath country. This slightly hilly region owes its unique appeal to vast pine, ash and alder forests and to a surprising diversity including hidden waters, pristine marshlands and traditional health resorts. Another forested area of similar cohesion was created just southwest of here, in the Dahlener Heide, during the 16th century, when the then barren area was forested with pine trees in order to create hunting grounds (the Oberheidnische Wildbahn) for the Saxonian Prince Elector. Today this area and the Wermsdorfer Wald have been joined to form a state park.